Does the "Fatty" mindset ever go away.

dave_in_ni · April 2019

This is something that bothers me to be honest. Sure I'm thin now, I have been for over 3 years but for most of my life I was obese.

I still think the way I did when I was fat, I still use food for comfort, when I take a notion of a binge boy can I eat, food is my reward, food is my comfort, food is still my obsession. And its not healthy food at that either its pure junk, I have a chocolate addiction, I can't eat one piece and be satisfied, I have to eat until I feel sick, it just sort of triggers something. I could say the same about french fries and fast food.

I am lucky now in that I have raised my metabolic rate quite a bit and can gorge a hell of a lot and not gain 1lb or I'd have gained quite a bit of weight back by now.

But as I say the mindset thing just isn't right if you know what I mean.

zeejane4 · April 2019

I'm 6 years into maintenance at this point and still have days where I feel really blech about where I'm at-completely ridiculous and I know that, but sometimes it just creeps in. I don't know that it will ever completely go away, but I have noticed the thoughts become less frequent the further along I go.

Thinking about food (and obsessing sometimes) has been a big part of my life the past 7 years. A lot of this is good because I've been focused on counting calories/making sure I'm where I need to be at. But, there's definitely a negative component to this as well. Frankly it's exhausting sometimes-I woke up thinking about food, would think about my next meal/snack as I was currently eating, would go to bed many nights thinking about food/calories etc.

Interestingly, I'm experimenting with a lower carb way of eating right now, (50g-75g of net carbs, so not to terribly low), and the biggest takeaway from it so far has been a significant reduction in appetite, which has led to me not thinking about food all the time anymore. It's been a surreal experience because I'm actually forgetting to eat because there's just no appetite. I've never experienced this before and its made me want to keep going with my experiment, just for that reason alone, (its also corrected some weight creep and bloating I was dealing with, so win-win lol). Don't know if eating a similar way would do the same for you or not, just sharing my experience

dave_in_ni · April 2019

zeejane4 wrote: »

I'm 6 years into maintenance at this point and still have days where I feel really blech about where I'm at-completely ridiculous and I know that, but sometimes it just creeps in. I don't know that it will ever completely go away, but I have noticed the thoughts become less frequent the further along I go.

Thinking about food (and obsessing sometimes) has been a big part of my life the past 7 years. A lot of this is good because I've been focused on counting calories/making sure I'm where I need to be at. But, there's definitely a negative component to this as well. Frankly it's exhausting sometimes-I woke up thinking about food, would think about my next meal/snack as I was currently eating, would go to bed many nights thinking about food/calories etc.

Interestingly, I'm experimenting with a lower carb way of eating right now, (50g-75g of net carbs, so not to terribly low), and the biggest takeaway from it so far has been a significant reduction in appetite, which has led to me not thinking about food all the time anymore. It's been a surreal experience because I'm actually forgetting to eat because there's just no appetite. I've never experienced this before and it's made me want to keep going with my experiment, just for that reason alone, (its also corrected some weight creep and bloating I was dealing with, so win-win lol). Don't know if eating a similar way would do the same for you or not, just sharing my experience

Protein and fats are more filling I guess so that probably explains why. Never thought about lowering carbs but you could be onto something.

Yes I can relate totally to constantly thinking about food, Hell I've even had dreams about food. I've even had nights where I've had a binge on something, I wake up the next morning and then I remember the binge and I have a feeling of deep regret, a similar feeling to you would get if you went out and got drunk then wake up the following morning thinking you did something wrong.

pierinifitness · May 2019

@dave_in_ni, your honesty and transparency is a breath of fresh air and subliminally instructive to all who read. Thanks for sharing and wishing you the best.

Jruzer · May 2019

I have written previously that I act as if I have have "obesity in remission". Seven years in, I still exhibit many of the behaviors and tendencies that caused me get obese in the first place. That's part of the reason I never can quite stay at my goal weight.

That said, I do find that some of that mindset is fading. The thought of gorging isn't as appealing as it used to be. In fact, even smaller temptations, for example to get an unplanned snack in the afternoon, are much more resistible for me now. Maybe my digestion is getting worse and I pay a higher price for overeating. Maybe I'm just more mature and in control of myself. I'm hoping that some of the lessons learned from my years of suppressing "Fat Jruzer" are starting to bear fruit.

In my case, I would say that the mindset doesn't "go away", but that it does diminish. And I'm pretty happy with that.

echmain3 · May 2019

Nice post @Jruzer .

I was going to post something similar but you summed it up quite nicely.

rheddmobile · May 2019

For me, it helped to work on alternative coping mechanisms. It’s not possible to permanently give up comfort, but you can teach yourself to look for comfort from sources other than food. For example, I read, work out, watch birds, look at nature, listen to music, paint my fingernails, or even ask for a hug. I also made an effort to resolve some long term issues with my life so that I needed less comforting.

Does the "Fatty" mindset ever go away.

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